Isle of Man Tt
ISLE OF MAN TT
COMPETITION
B.R.NICHOLLS
BANG WENT tradition in the 1972 TT races. Early morning practice sessions were abolished so riders and residents were able to sleep instead of rising for the 4:45 a.m. start which had become almost as much a part of the TT as the mountain course itself. Instead, the training was condensed into four evening sessions with an additional period during Thrusday afternoon.
Practice was not 100 percent successful, either, because weather interfered with two practice sessions, leaving very little chance for new riders to get in the required number of qualifying laps. Also, the brief hour and a quarter that roads were open at 5 p.m. was not
sufficient for most to get home.
There were several mishaps during practice, the most notable of which involved the veteran German sidecar ace Georg Auerbacher. He crashed at high speed at the 11th milestone and was hospitalized with a broken arm, cuts and bruises. He had only decided at the last moment to contest the races, so will doubtless wish he had stayed at home. His passenger, Peter Rutherford, escaped with a severe shaking, having been thrown through a hedge.
The practice board revealed little except that the Italian ace Gilberto Parlotti had benefited from doing some fifty laps on a road bike before official practice started. It was his first TT and
he was anxious to keep his lead in the 125 class of the world championship. He had a 16-point lead over Charles Mortimer before the TT series. At the end of practice the Italian had his Morbidelli in 2nd place just behind Mortimer.
The 250 practice session was headed by Rod Gould, who clocked his first ever ton up lap at 100.46 mph.
Agostini headed both the 350 and 500 classes with laps over 100 mph and Alberto Pagani also took a 500 MV Three round at 100.11 mph.
In the Formula 750 class, Peter Williams (Norton) sandwiched himself between the opposition works Triumphs of Tony Jefferies (104.08 mph) and Ray Pickrell (102.76). Jefferies broke the lap record of 103.21 which he set last year, although practice times do not count as official records. Klaus Enders (BMW) led the 500 sidecar class, but could not even get in the first six of the 750s as he was plagued with problems during practice. So, the honor of leading that class went to Peter Williams with his KGB Imp powered outfit, but he was given little chance of winning a race with big BMWs ridden by Enders, Schauzu and the current 500cc world championship leader Heinz Luthringshauser.
Racing started on Saturday evening with three production classes, the 750, 500 and 250, being run concurrently though started at 2-min. intervals. It took Pickrell only the mile to Quarter Bridge to get to the front after fluffing his start on the works production Triumph Trident. Then he just streaked ahead of Tony Jefferies who had been enlisted by the Norton team for this race only. Peter Williams lost some 50 seconds starting his Commando and was hampered throughout the race by gearbox problems, a trouble which sidelined Jefferies when the machine decided to go automatic at all the wrong times.
It was obvious that, barring troubles, nothing was going to stop Pickrell winning as he reeled off the four laps with each suceeding one faster than the previous. On his final circuit, he set a new lap record at 101.61 mph, though his race speed of exactly 100 mph was > slower than last year.
Williams held his 2nd place to the end well ahead of third placeman David Nixon (Trident), whose battle for 3rd with Darryl Pendlebury ended when Pendlebury retired four miles out on the 3rd lap.
The opening lap of the 500 class was a cracker with veteran Bill Smith (Honda Four) leading initially until his fuel cap opened and blinded him with gas. Then Hugh Evans took the lead on a Kawasaki Three. By the end of the lap, though, it was Stan Woods out front on a Suzuki with Roger Bowler (Triumph), having moved up to 2nd and Evans 3rd. Smith was then 4th ahead of two BSAs ridden by Nigel Rollason and Clive Brown.
Less than 10 seconds covered the first six with absolutely nothing between the first three. And it was those three that made the break on the second lap. At the end of the third, Bowler led from Woods with Smith back in 3rd place. But, Woods was really motoring as a misfire disappeared and he closed the gap on the leader, forced by, and won by some six seconds.
Last year’s winner of the 500 class was John Williams, but for 1972 he chose the smaller class and a 250 Honda. It was a winning combination, for in a trouble-free ride he beat his namesake Charlie Williams (Yamaha) by nearly two minutes.
By the time the 750 sidecar race was due to start at 7:30, spectators found the skies clouding over and watching became a very chilly pastime.
It is the current theme of the experts to choose Enders as the winner for a world championship sidecar race, but 1972 was not his lucky year for he had only gotten to Ballaugh bridge on the first lap on Saturday evening when he coasted to a halt and disappeared with his passenger into the local bar. At least he had followed the golden rule, “If you break down, do so near a pub.” Money is not necessary. Everyone wants to buy a TT rider a drink whether he is a world champion or just another racer. Ignition was given as the reason for his failure.
The retirement of Enders left Luthringshauser on a 590 BMW as the only threat to Schauzu, but he, too, disappeared on the first lap 20 miles out at
Ginger Hall (another pub!) with a crankshaft bearing gone. That left Schauzu as the sole survivor of the German “big three” and he led at the end of the first lap from Alan Sansum (750 Quaife Triumph), who was a minute down.
Siggi motored on to finish his three laps without trouble at a record speed of 90.97 mph but did not break his own lap record in the process. Sansum finished 2nd.
The Monday race program started with the 350cc junior TT and, with Giacomo Agostini on the MV Three, the result was a foregone conclusion. There were a few Phil Read fans, though, who thought that Phil would give Ago a run for his money as they were both MV mounted. But with the little experience that Phil has had on the Italian raceware it was no more than a pipe dream to expect him to beat the world champion unless Ago broke down as he had done in 1971.
Mind you, Phil was no slouch, for at the end of the first lap, his speed was 100.72 mph. But that was half a minute slower than Ago, who clocked 102.92 (Continued on page 93) mph. Third placeman was veteran Jack Findlay (Yamaha), while in 4th was Mick Grant (Padgett Yamaha).
RESULTS
Saturday races
750cc Production
1st, R. Pickrell, Triumph, 100.00 mph; 2nd, P. Williams, Norton, 96.53; 3rd, D. Nixon, Triumph, 94.04; 4th, H. Dahne, BMW, 92.30; 5th, M. Ashwood, Norton, 92.08; 6th, A. Copland, Triumph, 90.99. Lap record— Pickrell, 101.61 mph.
500cc Production
1st, S. Woods, Suzuki, 92.20 mph (record); 2nd, R. Bowler, Triumph, 92.09; 3rd, W. Smith, Honda, 91.16; 4th, R. Knight, Triumph, 89.91; 5th, H. Evans, Kawasaki, 89.63; 6th, G. Penny, Honda, 88.29. Lap record— Woods, 93.61 mph.
250cc Production
1st, J. Williams, Honda, 85.32 mph; 2nd, C. Williams, Yamaha, 84.06; 3rd, E. Roberts, Suzuki, 83.14; 4th, D. Arnold, Ducati, 82.75; 5th, N. Tuxworth, Suzuki, 82.72; 6th, J. Evans, Yamaha, 79.60. Fastest lap—J. Williams, 85.73 mph.
750cc Sidecar Race
1st, S. Schauzu/W. Kaluch, BMW, 90.97 mph (record); 2nd, A. Sansum/C. Emmins, Quaife Triumph, 87.76; 3rd, J.L. Barker/A. MacFadzean, Devimead BSA, 86.32; 4th, R. Hanks/J. Mann, BSA, 85.36; 5th, J. Brandon/ C. Holland, JCLS Honda, 84.99; 6th, R. Wegener/A. Heinrichs, BMW, 84.48. Fastest lap—Schauzu, 91.33 mph.
Monday races
Junior Race 350cc, five laps
1st, G. Agostini, MV Three, 102.03 mph; 2nd, T. Rutter, Yamaha, 98.13; 3rd, M. Grant, Padgett Yamaha, 97.57; 4th, J. Findlay, Yamaha, 97.41; 5th, D. Chatterton, Chat Yamaha, 95.65; 6th, S. Griffiths, Cowles Yamaha, 94.16. Fastest lap—Agostini, 103.34 mph.
500cc Sidecar, three laps
1st, S. Schauzu/W. Kalauch, BMW, 91.85 mph; 2nd, H. Luthringhauser/J. Cusnik, BMW, 91.70; 3rd, G. Boret/N. Boret, 492 Renwick König, 84.43; 4th, W. Klenk/N. Scheerer, BMW, 83.62; 5th, B. Dungworth/R. Turrington, BMW, 82.32; 6th, R. Hanks/J. Mann, BSA, 80.07. Fastest lap—Luthringshauser, 92.53 mph.
Thursday races (postponed from Wed.)
250cc race, four laps
1st, P. Read, Yamaha, 99.68 mph; 2nd, R. Gould, Yamaha, 98.09; 3rd, J. Williams, Yamaha, 97.09; 4th, C. Williams, Yamaha, 95.98; 5th, W. Pfirter, Yamaha, 95.93; 6th, B. Henderson, Yamaha, 95.26. Fastest lap— Read, 100.61 mph.
Formula 750cc race, five laps
1st, R. Pickrell, Triumph, 104.23 mph (record); 2nd, T. Jefferies, Triumph, 103.46; 3rd, J. Findlay, Suzuki, 98.33; 4th, D. Nixon, Triumph, 96.12; 5th, C. Williams, Yamaha, 95.99; 6th, B. Steele, Norton, 95.31. Record lap—Pickrell, 105.68 mph.
Friday races
1 25cc, three laps
1st, C. Mortimer, Yamaha, 87.49 mph; 2nd, C. Williams, Yamaha, 80.49; 3rd, B. Rae, Maico, 79.29; 4th, L. Porter, Honda, 78.63; 5th, R. Hackett, Honda, 76.55; 6th, R. Watts, Honda, 76.40. Fastest lap—Mortimer, 90.58 mph.
Senior race 500cc, six laps
1st, G. Agostini, MV Three, 104.02 mph; 2nd, A. Pagani, MV Three, 98.13; 3rd, M. Grant, Kawasaki, 97.03; 4th, K. Cowley, Seeley, 96.10; 5th, D. Chatterton, Yamaha, 95.80; 6th, C. Williams, Yamaha, 94.52. Fastest lap—Agostini, 105.39 mph.
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Conditions were not ideal for racing as there had been rain early in the day and although it had all stopped by the end of the first lap, it left damp patches under trees that required special care. They did not seem to bother Ago too much as he pressed on into his second lap with an upped average of 103.13 mph.
When Phil Read retired with gearbox trouble, Grant“forced up to 2nd place, but promptly lost it as he refuelled. At this stage, Tony Rutter (Yamaha) moved into 2nd place at the end of the third lap with Findlay 3rd and Grant 4th.
The battle was really on between these three for 2nd place and if history repeated itself and the MV retired then it would have been for 1st.
At the end of the 4th lap Grant had moved back to 2nd place, but had gambled everything on not running out of gas. Rutter (Yamaha) really poured it on and after a 100.90 mph lap, edged into 2nd.
Grant took 3rd when his machine cut dead, out of gas 200 yards from the finish, and Findlay was 4th after a slow pit stop.
With the solos out of the way spectators settled down in the hope of seeing Chris Vincent upset the BMW applecart with his Munch-powered outfit and the ballot for grid positions had put Chris alongside Klaus Enders on the start line. All races at the TT apart from the mass start production event are run with the riders sent off in pairs at 10-second intervals. There would be no need for stop watches to see how the Enders/ Vincent battle was progressing.
Vincent’s four-cylinder fired first and he hurtled off toward Bray Hill with Enders close behind. At Ballacraine, the pair were side by side but the Munch is still a strange animal to Vincent while Enders has lost none of his ability, despite that fact he has had a year away from racing sidecars.
By the time they reached Ramsey 23 miles out, the German had pulled out'a 4-second lead. Still, with the mountain climb of 1300 feet in front of them, there was virtually nothing in it. Unofficial timing estimated that Vincent did pull back half the deficit by the Bugalow, but Enders fought back down the mountain and at the end of the first lap he led Vincent by three seconds.
Just as it looked as if it was going to develop into an interesting battle, the Munch fizzled to a halt five miles out on (Continued on page 94) the second lap. The magnet had dropped out of the magneto. With Vincent gone, Schauzu moved into 2nd place, 14 seconds behind Enders, with Heinz Luthringshauser 3rd, making it a BMW 1-2-3.
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Enders lead was about 15 seconds at the end of the second lap and as they set off on the final lap Schauzu was obviously determined to do the double after his 750 win on Saturday. Enders had other ideas and was equally determined to win. Then in a moment of drama, Enders shot into Parliament Square at Ramsey without attempting to follow the course round to the right. His engine was dead.
Schauzu was then being hard pressed by Luthringshauser, who in his attempt to snatch the lead on the final lap, set up the fastest lap of the race at 92.53 mph. It was to no avail as Schauzu held on to win by some seven seconds with Boret taking 3rd spot over six minutes behind Luthringshauser. The BMWs of Wolfgang Klenk and Barry Dungworth came 4th and 5th with Roy Hands the first BSA home in 6th place.
Two hours before the Wednesday races were due to commence at 11:00 an announcement was made to the effect that they had been postponed for two hours. Finally, atrocious weather forced postponement until Thursday.
The weather relented on Thursday and racing started at 11:00 with the 250 class. This proved to be a start to finish victory for Phil Read (Yamaha) who opened up a 55-second lead on the first lap from similarly mounted Ron Gould with another Yamaha rider, John Williams, in 3rd place.
The John Player Norton team had been strengthened for the TT by the addition of John Cooper to its ranks. He joined Phil Read and Peter Williams in a determined bid to win the race that is fast becoming the top attraction of the week.
Triumph had put its faith in the proven pair of Ray Pickrell and last year’s winner Tony Jefferies.
It was Pickrell all the way, a start to finish winner virtually from the moment he left the start line, with Jefferies chasing hard but unable to match the brilliant performance of the Londoner, who set a new lap record for the class at 105.69 mph.
The John Player Norton team was never in the hunt, having been plagued with gearbox problems during practice, the same trouble had Williams out of the race before the end of the second lap, while Cooper broke the gear lever and Read went out misfiring badly. Jack Findlay ended up 3rd on one of the big Suzuki 750cc water-cooled three-cylinder bikes supplied by the Italian importer. It nearly did not start, as following the warm up session there was a five minute delay during which the temperature gauge registered 110 degrees Centigrade. Exhaust clouds of smoke almost obscured Findlay as he headed for the descent of Bray Hill, which rapidly brought the temperature back to 75 degrees. The superiority of the Triumphs was amply underlined by the four and a half minutes that Findlay finished behind Jefferies.
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Friday dawned windy, wet and with mist on the mountain and it seemed as if the 125 race would have to be delayed. But, a slight improvement brought the start of the race promptly at 11:00. It will long be argued that it was the wrong decision and that with a weather forecast predicting far better conditions in the afternoon the race should have been delayed.
But that would be speaking with hindsight for the fact of the matter is that tragedy struck on the second lap when Gilberto Parlotti, riding the works Morbidelli, had opened up an 18-second lead on Charles Mortimer (Yamaha). It was his first visit to the TT and he had impressed everyone with his brilliant riding and knowledge of the course.
He was 29 miles out on his second lap, climbing the mountain, when he crashed on the newly surfaced section at the Verandah and was killed instantly.
Mortimer went on to win by almost seven minutes ffom Charlie Williams (Yamaha) with Bill Rae (Maico) 3rd.
Riding conditions were improving by the end of the 125 race but that did not stop the stewards postponing the start of the Senior race until 4:00 in the afternoon. It was probable that the roads would be dry by then; it also seemed highly likely that the MV camp might withdraw as a mark of respect to Parlotti, who was a friend of Agostini’s.
There was no doubt in anyone’s mind who was going to win the Senior race for with world 500cc champion Giacomo Agostini on the grid with a string of four successive Senior wins behind him the only question was, who would come in 2nd? Ago also had a backup man in Alberto Pagani (500 MV) but, the fans of Peter Williams were looking to him to split the two Italians and bring his Arter Matchless into 2nd place for the third time running. There was no third time for Williams, though. He had to retire at the end of the first lap with a leaking gas tank.
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Agostini started the race with a lap at 103.03 to lead the field but Pagani had failed to make it an MV 1-2 as another Williams, this time John mounted on another Arter Matchless, took 2nd place a couple of seconds ahead of Pagani. The Italian struck back on the 2nd lap to pull out a 10-second lead over Williams. Then came the sort of drama that helps to keep the TT alive, for Pagani stopped at Ramsey 23 miles out on his third lap to examine the rear of the MV. He continued, but pulled into the pits at the end of the lap. Mechanics frantically worked to tighten the rear suspension and adjust the chain. Then, he was off again, one minute and twenty seconds behind Williams. Up into 4th place to the delight of the local populace went Kevin Cowley, a Manxman riding a Seeley.
Pit stops to take on gas at the halfway stage of the six lap race that covers some 226 miles always affects the leaderboard where there is a narrow margin between riders.
Pagani had his hands full trying to hack back the \V¿ minute lead that Williams had gained by the end of the fifth lap. Agostini hurtled into his sixth and final lap with a six minute lead over Williams, who seemed assured of his 2nd place until he coasted to a halt on the mountain six miles from the finish. His hard riding had completely wrecked gas calculations and his tank was dry. He was out of the race.
So, Pagani swept back into 2nd place and Mick Grant took 3rd albeit nearly 10 minutes behind the winner.
So the 1972 TT series of races came to an end with double wins for Ray Pickrell, Giacomo Agostini and Siegfried Schauzu. For the German it meant the incredible record of seven sidecar wins in six years and the only man ever to win two sidecar races in a week during TT time.
New names are making themselves known by fine performances on the world’s most dangerous and testing circuit—Mick Grant with two fine 3rd places in junior and senior races, and John Williams, who unluckily lost 2nd place in the senior but took 3rd in the 250cc TT and won that production race class. But for sheer consistency, Charlie Williams on the Dugdale machinery must take this year’s TT accolade, for he finished in the first six of five different solo races—2nd in 250cc production, 4th in 250cc TT, 5th in the Formula 750 on a 350 machine, 2nd in 125cc and 6th in the Senior on a 354 Yamaha. With a performance like that he can be forgiven for sliding off without injury in the 350 race.
